So many things missing...

[c_Alien]

Planet Zoo is arguably the best zoo manager out there. So I am wondering why this game lacks so many things. Things that literally EVERY zoo in the world has.

- Children playgrounds - I bet you will not find a single zoo in the world that does not have them, even the tiniest one. And they are usually the most crowded places. Sure, you could construct a climbing frame out of stuff, but at least a swing and a slide should be there. And children playing on them.

- Indoor exhibits - honestly, there is so much deco stuff in this game, so it should be an easy task for the devs to create some modular walls, a roof, windows and a door to build around enclosures. You could be able place habitats into the walls, too.

- Aquariums - there are habitats already, why are we not able to fill them up with water and place fish in them?
Would also be nice if we were able to put goldfish and kois into the normal ponds.

- Aviaries - Do I have to say more? No zoo without them.

- Parking lots - ok, this is no must, but would be funny. A small number of people arrive in their cars instead on foot, park, and enter the zoo. If the parking lot is full, they continue arriving on foot.

Edit: - Restaurants and Cafes - I mean real ones, with tables and waiters and everything.
Planet Coaster has them, as do larger zoos.

Why are we not able to create "realistic" zoos in planet zoo, since literally every zoo features these things?
Maybe there will be DLCs that have them, but from what I can see at the moment, they just focus on animals and even more deco stuff...

[grampers62]

Okay, Playgrounds are not as common as many think. Indoor exhibits, yeah that needs some help. (in my opinion) Aquariums, It seems to me not that hard to convert an exhibit to an aquatic display. Aviaries, should be there. Or at least small birds in exhibit facilities.
Yes the game's primary focus is on animals and care and management of same and that's okay, to me...

[Siamese55]

Perhaps maybe not the most traditional playground, but every zoo (or theme park) that has ever claimed family friendliness (pretty well them all) that I have visited has a dedicated children's area which I would most generally label a playground. Especially if a zoo cares about education, they should have something directed at children.

[ShadowAngel]

Originally posted by grampers62:

Okay, Playgrounds are not as common as many think.

I don't know a single Zoo that doesn't have a playground or a designated "play area", which might not be a traditional playground, but offers stuff for children (like the Zoo in houston having the climbing area and a "build with wood and clay" area)
Here in Germany, regular playgrounds are featured at every Zoo, some (like Hellabrunn here in Munich) even have multiple of them, usually located next to the restaurants (also something missing, littering your park with ugly vending machines may be typical american, but it's certainly not very nice to look at, neither are all the fast food stalls)

I also agree about Aviaries and Aquariums

[c_Alien]

Right, I forgot to list the restaurants.
Strange that planet zoo doesn't have them, because planet coaster sure does.

[jcb74]

I'd be happy if keepers re-filled feeding troughs/platforms etc.. Loaded the game up last night to check... Yep, still the same problem

[Purger Of Souls]

Good points OP, maybe the next game......

[Thorstorm]

No to everything (especially kids playgrounds) except Aviaries, we need these.

Aquariums would be pretty but fishes are boring, wasting time and resources on this wouldn't make this game better, maybe as an exhibit later down the line?
Neither would functional parking lots (is it even serious?) which would take a chunk of memory for basically nothing, you can already make a fake one.

There's staff in carts driving around in real zoos is Frontier going to add these? I mean I could come up with a ton of crap that can't be done in a video game to make a more realistic zoo.

[chloespencer2000]

I agree that there should be playgrounds - especially here in the UK, all the zoos I have visited have at least 1 playground for children to enjoy. Even if they're just already built blueprints we could use and place somewhere and they could just make children interact with them, it'd be so realistic.

Aviaries and aquariums also should be a staple in the game. If Zoo Tycoon could do it 20 years ago, there's no reason why Planet Zoo couldn't incorporate aquariums. And as for aviaries, I would be happy if they just had different sizes of pre-built aviaries for different species which we could use different objects to decorate them. Same thing with the aquariums - we could just have habitat barriers but of complete glass instead and we could fill them with water and have like dolphins, whales, sharks etc and then small fish too which don't even have to be legitimate animals in the game but just objects for aesthetics.

[grampers62]

The full aquatic habitat would not work in the current game system as keepers can't get in to clean them or fill feeding objects. Also enrichment objects would a mess. Would kind of break some of the habitat rules.

[Wylie28]

Childrens playgrounds. Way too much work. I don't see much feasibility. Its not compatible with the current AI. Requires complex animations. Etc. This feature is easily a $10 DLC in and of itself.

Indoor exhibits. These exist. I have several.

Aquariums would be fine for the small exhibits. But it goes against the zoo nature of the game. And no such feature exists so again. It would have to be its own DLC in order to have enough content to fill an entire aquarium building. Which still ends up just being one building. I don't see feasibility here.

Same issue as above.

People already do this. And where would the roads connect? The game is incompatible with this addition. And no existing zoo's can have support for it. This is the least feasible idea on the list.

Zoos don't have restaurants. They have food courts. Which we can already make. Again. I have several. And Planet Coaster does not have restaurants, it also just has good courts. Idk where you are getting this from.

Most of your missing things can already be made anyway. Mods for fish exist. People make non functional restaurants. You can make a zoo as "realistic" as you want. It just won't all be functional

[AdahnGorion]

I have made many indoor exhibits (you have the power to do so yourself)
An example.
Inside
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2374182628
Often however most people (including me) do them as part of the building or as a standalone. (looking at popularity, those two are also a lot more subscribed, than inside)

But you have the power to create what you want and there are plenty of very good buildings with inside exhibits on the workshop.

Children playgrounds. I would love it, but the fact is that the AI would not work. Maybe some easy placable elements to make a playground, but that would again cost 10 euro without any animal´s etc..

Aquariums and Aviaries are something that would be very nice. The first could be done like echibits are and in various sizes. Fish are interesting, more so than many people think. Aviaries, some have made custom build ones (but obvious no life animals) so I would support that as well.

Parking lots

You can do them fairly easy yourself, you can also make guest spawn from the area (again you have the tools to do it, its a pain, but its duable)

I am pretty awful at making stuff, but here a screenshot from one of my old projects that gets worked on from time to time. It consist of a road system, that goes to a parking lot (were guest spawn at a bus stop) I made a huge dome as well, with 2 inside habitats and several exhibits (far from done)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2555354176
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2555354951

Still abit bare, but I have gone much further since that shop and made it a fully rock features experience with tree´s stues and much more.. my point is.. we have the power to create many things, some of us struggle (like me, I am better at simplistic buildings and outdoor opn habitats) but all in all.. we can almost do whatever we like.

Many people have already made indoor Restaurants and Cafes, albeit that could also need a lot of love and new types of features. It is hard, because we are all biased towards one direction.

If I had to pick one of the above, I would personally want Aquariums & Aviaries as a combined back or one of them alone. That is becuase, I think it would give me more diversity in my parks and another type of animal experience (obviously)

Thank you for making the debate however, it is always good to hear what others have to say and what they are looking for.

[Ellorien]

Re: restaurants. Do you want to be able to hire “waiters” and “cooks” instead of the booths?
Because otherwise you can build a decent indoor food court with tables and TVs and music and other decor.
I miss all the brands we had in Planet Coaster, and the diner building set. It was pretty good and would be appropriate for a zoo.

I, too, want aquariums and aviary. For the big marine animals that require an enormous territory filled with water there could be a special map. Or we could terraform ourselves. It is possible.
There is no problem with feeding, all you need is an access to the underwater feeders that already exist in the game. Educators would throw fish in the water.
Exhibits with small fish is also a good idea. We already have a terrapin exhibit so water-filled exhibits should not be a problem at all.

Aviary is something I really, really want. As well as a butterfly garden.

I don’t care about playgrounds and parking lots, though. I mean, nothing is wrong with them, just not a must-have content.

[audiolady]

I would love aquariums, avaiaries, and are there spider exhibits? The St. Louis zoo has a great spider exhibit, with 20+ species or more. Beautiful creatures.

[AdahnGorion]

Originally posted by audiolady:

I would love aquariums, avaiaries, and are there spider exhibits? The St. Louis zoo has a great spider exhibit, with 20+ species or more. Beautiful creatures. :Janitor_Heart:

We already have spider exhibits indeed.
Brazilian Wandering Spider
Goliath Birdeater
Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula
Mexican Red Knee Tarantula

[audiolady]

I'm in love with those exhibits! I'm going to go right this minute to sandbox!
Tarantulas rule! I had a blue haired tarantula. He lived 4 years.